


Prayer in the Dark [ABANDONED WORK]

by ArtemisStyx



Category: Mass Effect Trilogy, Vampire: The Masquerade
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, POV First Person, Vampires
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-01
Updated: 2018-10-22
Packaged: 2019-07-23 10:14:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 14,578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16156976
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArtemisStyx/pseuds/ArtemisStyx
Summary: UNFINISHED AND DISCONTINUEDAn undercover police agent from the modern days finds herself thrust into a different time, a different body and a different galaxy. While she is trying to acclimate to the changes, the carpet is whisked from under her feet once more - the Reapers are coming.





	1. Agent Indigo

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first attempt at writing, so don't set your expectations too high.

_**26/10/2003** _  
_**21:06** _  
_**Hotel California, Downtown L.A.** _

I hastily ducked behind a concrete wall as bullets ricocheted through the doorway. _A routine mission my ass!_ I slammed the door behind me and kept running, the heavy briefcase slowing me down significantly.

I pushed the button on my radio before screaming into it once again, “This is Indigo! I need an immediate extraction!” The only answer was a grim and foreboding silence. The gunshots behind me got only louder with each passing second as the mobsters were clearing every single room along the corridor. _Fuck!_

Making a right turn and rushing to the end of the hallway I found myself in, I tried to open the only door in sight. _Locked. Shit._ I frantically tried to kick the door in a desperate attempt to push through. It didn’t budge. _A dead end. A dead fucking end!_ The steady staccato of gunfire was becoming deafening to me.

I dropped the briefcase in favor of gripping my gun – a standard-issue P9 – with both hands and turned around. _I suppose this is it then,_ I thought. The signature noise of firearms became duller in my ears. _Somehow, I’m oddly at peace with myself, even knowing I’m about to die._ With that, a grim and mirthless smile made its way to my lips. _Let’s see how many will die with me._ I steadied my arms and took careful aim.

A leather-clad form of one of my many pursuers appeared from behind a bend in the corridor. Before he could do anything, I vented his head, the .45 bullet punching clean through his skull. _One._

From right behind him, a second gang member ran into the open, right into my sights. One, two, three bullets went to his center of mass. He collapsed to the floor, his features contorted in agony, his body – lifeless. _Two._

The shooting stopped. _They must’ve realized they found me._ Instead of the gunfire, I could now hear footfalls – a lot of them – coming in my general direction. _Come on. Bring it._

A head foolishly popped around the corner. It was greeted with a bullet hitting it right in the jaw, tearing its way through the skin, the muscle and the bone. _Three._

Finally, a duo of the lawbreakers came around the corner. _Two bullets left._ With that in mind, I rushed my attackers. Running purely on adrenaline, I tackled the one closest to me to the ground before quickly standing up and landing a snap kick to the groin of the other. As he went to the ground clutching at his privates, I smoothly raised my pistol and fired my last two bullets, leaving their bodies on the floor with matching holes in their heads. _Four and five._

I dropped the now-useless weapon to the ground and started frantically looking for a new one when the adrenaline rush began to wear off. Pain wracked my body as I collapsed onto my hands and knees. _Oh, fuck…_ I looked down on myself, only now noticing the blood leaking from my lower torso. A horrific cough left my lips, the air colored red with the blood from my lungs.

I managed to turn and lie on my back from my hands-and-knees position as another mafioso made his way around the corner. The barrel of his shotgun was aimed square at my face. _I guess five is as good as it’ll get._

I felt the taste of blood in the back of my mouth as more of the red liquid escaped my body. I heard a deafening boom as his finger twitched on the trigger. I smelled the faint scent of gunpowder as the shell exploded inside the barrel. I saw a bright flash of light as the weapon fired. I felt searing pain as the buckshot tore its way through my face. And then I felt nothing at all as the world around me went black.

* * *

_**??/??/????** _  
_**??:??** _  
_**?????** _

Falling, falling, falling… The feeling had become normal at this point. I couldn’t see or hear anything, there were no smells or tastes I could detect – the only feeling I was exposed to was the sense of helplessly falling into the empty void.

 _I wonder if that’s what death is. Just an endless fall into the unknown._ I tried to chuckle when the thought crossed my mind, only to find that there was no air in my lungs. _Not too dissimilar from life. The only difference is the more literal meaning._

I began pondering the things I’ve done in life. My mind started conjuring up different images as I drifted further into thinking about the past.

I saw a small kid – she couldn’t be older than twelve – holding the lifeless body of her mother, her blood seeping out of the wounds the bullets left in their wake. Dirt was smeared on her clothes and face, tears were streaming out of her eyes. _Look at you, Diana Jessica Austin. You’ve come a long way._

I saw a teen with a chip on her shoulder – probably around sixteen-seventeen years of age – stabbing an older person – maybe in his early twenties– again and again and again. _Higgins… The last of the pricks who killed Mom. I really wish I’d known how to inflict pain without killing._

I then saw that same teenager in an interrogation room of what I knew was a police station, grinning and shaking hands with the police officer. _Detective Temple… The turning point in my life._

Following that was a barrage of images, all of them featuring this same young woman. Here she was conversing with an older gentleman in a suit, here she was chasing a shady-looking individual in a beanie with a duffel bag, here she was engaged in a firefight with some black guys, here she was smashing in the face of some poor bastard opposing her… _No matter how it ended, I had a good life. No regrets._

Finally, I saw a woman in her early thirties fail to kick in a door, drop a briefcase and pull out a pistol. I saw her put down five of her pursuers before she fell down to the ground, clutching at her stomach and coughing up blood. _I really should’ve aimed for their heads. Could’ve taken out more than five with my seven bullets._ Before I could see the woman eat a bullet herself, however, the images disappeared from view.

I felt my fall slow down, as an unknown force was pushing from below me. _Well, this is new. Wonder what this means._ Suddenly, I felt myself be flung in the direction opposite of my fall. _What the hell!_ After a brief moment of flight, I smashed into what felt like a brick wall and came to a halt.

* * *

_**09/04/2181** _  
_**03:46** _  
_**Kenzo district, Omega, Sahrabarik system, Omega nebula** _

The first thing I registered was pain. _God, the pain…_ It felt like every single particle in my body had been set aflame. I tried to scream, yet no sound came out of my mouth. I tried to open my eyes and my body failed to respond. _What the sandwich fuck is this!_ After what felt like an eternity, the pain subsided.

As I lied there, unable to do a thing, my senses slowly started coming back to me. First, I regained my sense of touch. The cold hard surface under my face was reassuring. _Fucking hell. And here I was thinking a buckshot slug to the face would put me down for good._

The next sense to return was smell. And what a disgusting smell it was. _Ugh… It’s like piss, shit, vomit, blood, decay and exhaust fumes developed a mutant smell of their own._ Impressively enough, there was no gag reflex from me.

Then my hearing came back to me. Immediately, I heard sounds of heavy machinery. More importantly, I heard the sound of a male voice talking. _Well-well-well, let’s see what we’ve got here…_ Willing myself to concentrate on what he’s saying, I managed to make out the last of his words.

“…all sorts of stuff. Look, there’s another one, let’s check her out,” he said, before another voice – a female one – reached me. This time, I heard everything she said to the letter.

“Yeah, well if you think any of these poor sods have anything you can use to pay your debts on them, you’re sorely mistaken,” she answered in a bitter tone. _Debts, looking for stuff on poor sods… Probably junkies, trying to scrape up enough for a fix._

As I heard the steady footfalls approach me, I caught a delightful scent. I couldn’t make a connection to anything I knew with such a smell, but it was too good to ignore. Immediately my eyes snapped open. All I saw, however, was a red fog. _What the shit!_

When the junkie came closer, I felt my body act on its own accord. As soon as I felt his hands on my shoulder, my hand grabbed onto his hair and yanked his head to the side. I heard the man gasp in pain as I felt my lips find purchase on something and the most delightful feeling I’ve ever experienced rushed through me. _So good… It’s better than smokes, better than booze. Hell, this is better than sex!_

I heard a feminine yelp which soon turned into a full-blown scream come from behind me. I felt myself turn around and pounce. I felt a brief pain in my shoulder as I bodily checked someone to the ground, followed by another scream – this time of pain rather than terror – coming from below me. I felt how my hand found the woman’s face and slammed her head into the cold, unforgiving ground.

Again, I felt my mouth latch onto what I now realized was her neck. Again, a feeling of indescribable euphoria filled my entire being.

Finally, the red fog cleared from my vision. I looked around me, seeing the mess I’ve made. _What the fucking shit was that!_ I looked under me, noticing a very pale-looking woman, the back of her head cracked open from the sheer force of the blow, twin puncture wounds on her neck. No blood was coming out of them.

I frantically looked behind me, where I had initially woken up. There, I saw a man in a similar state. Same marks on his neck, similar lack of blood seeping out of them. _What the fuck, what the fuck, what the fuck!_

I ran my hand down my face and my neck. When I brought it back up, it was slick with blood. Acting on some sort of an inhuman instinct, I licked the red liquid from my fingers. The taste was intoxicating. _I guess surviving a shotgun blast to the head without any strings attached would be too good to be true, huh?_

As I looked down on myself, I realized that my body was covered in bloody rags. _Right. This is all sorts of messed up, but this problem needs immediate fixing. I’ll deal with this whole waking up with a very specific hunger thing later._

As soon as the thought crossed my mind, I started looking beyond my immediate surroundings. Around me, I saw a dimly lit passageway. The floor was made of a rusty metal of some sort, the walls weren’t looking any better and there was no ceiling to speak of. _Where the hell am I?_

Suddenly, I saw movement further down the corridor. _Maybe they’ll know something._ Quickly deciding on a course of action, I tried to hide. Instinctually, I reached out for the shadows and the shadows extended to cover me. _The fuck! Well, I guess it’s a nifty little trick to have. But still, the fuck!_

The movement came closer, until I was finally able to make out the figure approaching me and the scene of a massacre I'd made. As the figure was coming closer, however, I had to do a double-take. And then a triple-take, because the woman approaching me was blue. She also didn’t have any hair, instead some kind of tentacles were extending from the top of her head. _What the fuck!_

Perhaps even more surprising was her reaction to the dead bodies I left in my wake – or lack thereof. She simply walked past them as if they were never there. _This is all sorts of fucked up._ Before she could walk past me, however, I stepped out of the shadows concealing me. As the darkness around me gave way to light, I saw her eyes widen as she took a step back.

I felt a tingling feeling in the back of my head, and as my eyes narrowed as I peered into hers I spoke out a single word, “Stop.” To my never-ending surprise, her legs stopped moving and she stood there, her eyes now being filled with panic. The tingle in the back of my mind evaporated as I felt a thirst appear inside me.

She started babbling something, but I was not able to understand a word. Deciding on a more direct approach, I moved well into her personal space, grabbed her by the body and shoved her into the metal wall.

I snarled into where a human would have an ear, “Where am I?!” Her response was once again unintelligible, but her entire body started glowing a light blue.

I felt anger spark inside of me. I rammed my fist into her gut, screaming at her, “English, motherfucker! Do you speak it!” She let out a yelp of pain and the blue field around her flickered out of existence, but she didn’t say anything I could understand.

With that, a snap decision was made. I reached out into the shadows again, this time pulling them over her face. Immediately, she stopped talking and started asphyxiating. _Perfect._

After twenty seconds of her having no access to air, I relented and let the shadows fall back into normalcy. I grabbed her by the throat and pressed her into the wall once more. “Still nothing?” I asked her, my tone laced with menace. Her response was a blank stare.

Sighing, I pulled the shadows back onto her face and let her die. _I’d love to drain her, but I really need a set of clothing not covered in blood._

When I was sure she was a goner, I dissipated the shadows and quickly frisked her body. _Let’s see what we’ve got…_ The only item of interest was a small bracelet I identified as a wristwatch. _Waste not, want not._ I slipped the bracelet onto my wrist.

Imagine my surprise when a jolt of electricity ran through my body. Immediately I got a splitting headache. So distracting was the pain, that I didn’t even notice the small bracelet expand into what I could only describe as a hologram until the orange glow that emanated from it bathed me in a soft light. _A wristwatch, right. Looks can be deceiving, I guess._

As I looked into the hologram that was now covering my arm, I realized that I could actually understand what was written on it. _Well then, let’s see what we have._ _And how do I manipulate this thing?_ I randomly poked at it with my free hand and the hologram interacted with my touch. _A-ha, so that’s how it works…_

I quickly found the off-switch and let the glow fade away as I hastily undressed the blue body in front of me and changed into her clothes. Said clothes were a tight-fitting leather catsuit too small for my assets, but it was certainly better than the bloody rags. _Beggars can’t be choosers._

I quickly moved away from the scene of the crime. When I got enough distance from the bodies, I switched on the hologram on my hand and searched through its saved data. _Come on, come on… Where did you live?_

Soon enough, I found a map with a saved location marked as ‘home’ as well as an arrow pointing at my current location. _This is really convenient._ I quickly started making my way towards ‘home’. Thankfully, I managed to arrive there without running into any other people or any complications in general.

The door of the apartment looked very strange to me, but it opened up when I pressed the hologram against it. I walked in, and I was greeted to a sight very dissimilar to my normal experiences with apartments. Everything looked very futuristic to me. _I wonder…_

I quickly pulled up the hologram and looked for a calendar. Sure enough, it was there. Seeing the date nearly floored me. It read, “04:18, April 9th, 2181.” _Son of a bitch._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So what do you guys think? Good? Bad? Meh? Let me know in the comments, and if you see any ways I could improve, let me know - I always welcome constructive criticism!


	2. Omega

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Indigo's first night on Omega.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like if I had an editor, he or she would tell me to cut this part entirely. But alas, I do not, and so I'll stick this in the story and call it character development.  
> Oh, and another thing - I went back to change the protagonist's name because I'm fickle like that. Just in case someone is actually following this.

_**09/04/2181** _  
_**04:18** _  
_**Deceased woman’s apartment, Kenzo district, Omega, Sahrabarik system, Omega nebula** _

I found a small couch in the living room of the apartment and plopped down into it with a heavy sigh, the hologram on my hand still active. _As if waking up as a fucking vampire wasn’t enough, now I find out I’m in the future? I need a fucking cigarette. Or ten._

With that thought, I shut down the hologram and went rummaging around the apartment trying to figure out just what hand I’d been dealt. _Let’s see what that woman owned. First stop, the wardrobe._

It didn’t take me too long to find what I was looking for. Snooping around places I wasn’t supposed to be in had been my job for a long time, after all. It was an armoire with a sliding door standing next to the small bed. A mirror was hanging from a wall to its immediate right. _Tell me not all of your stuff is slim fit._

As I approached the wardrobe and opened it, I looked to the mirror to at the very least take in my appearance and make sure no blood stained my face. Unfortunately for me, there was nothing to see. I had no reflection. _For the love of everything that is fucking unholy…_ _Wait. Does that mean?_

To check my theory, I quickly pulled up the hologram and looked for a camera. In a few seconds’ time, I had it up and running. _The moment of truth…_ I pointed it at myself and snapped a photo. Looking for it in the gallery, I saw a picture of an empty apartment. I was nowhere to be seen, despite having pointed the camera directly at myself. _This could prove useful yet…_

Having rationalized that problem away, I looked over my options when it came to the clothes. _No chance in hell I’m wearing that dress in such a hellhole. And what even is that? Goodness gracious, what a mess…_

About ten minutes later, I found something that was more casual and comfortable than the leathers I’d been wearing up until that point. It was a very tight and very short pair of jean shorts and a deep blue tank top, as well as a pair of beat-up old sneakers. Still, the issue of me being a size or two larger than the woman I’d killed was very much prevalent. _Getting new clothes is definitely a priority._

I spent the next two hours or so looking over every nook and cranny this apartment had. It was a small flat with a small bedroom, a small living room, a tiny kitchen and an even tinier bathroom. _Reminds me of Chicago way back when._

After my inspection, I quickly took a shower before sitting down on the sofa and pulling up the hologram. _If it’s the future I find myself in, I better educate myself on the basics._

* * *

 _**10/04/2181** _  
_**18:04** _  
_**Deceased woman’s apartment, Kenzo district, Omega, Sahrabarik system, Omega nebula** _

My eyes fluttered open as I arose from my slumber, a deep thirst burning inside me. _God damn it… Is this how it’s gonna be all the time?_ I shook my head and went to the bathroom to get a shower and brush my teeth.

I’d fallen asleep reading up on history yesterday night. _What a story. Aliens are real. Asari, turians, salarians, batarians and so many others… Vampires are real too. What’s next, werewolves and ghosts?_

I also found out that the station I’d found myself on was called ‘Omega’, and that it’s basically the pirate capital of the most dangerous sector of known space. _Just fucking peachy._ _On the bright side, the amount of death on this station means that my little rampage from yesterday will go unnoticed._

During my research, I came to realize that a single person was in charge of this station – one Aria T’Loak. _Considering that this is the most unlawful region in known space and that she’s been lording over this station with an iron fist for over two centuries, crossing her would be a very bad idea. Still, the possibilities here are near-endless._

As I came out of the bathroom and quickly put my clothes on, I realized that there were no hairbrushes in the apartment. An asari wouldn’t need one. _God damn it. And I can’t even see myself in the mirror! I really need somebody to do this for me._

Leaving my upper back-long auburn hair unattended, I checked the omni-tool – the proper name for the hand hologram – for the dead asari’s bank account. Sure enough, it was there. _Let’s see what we’ve got…_

Unfortunately for me, I was not able to access it without a passcode. Fortunately for me, I’d spent quite an amount of time searching all over her apartment. I entered the numbers I’d found written on a note in a drawer, grinning like a loon when I was allowed access. _Good thing old habits die hard, especially when those habits are too good to give up._

Twenty thousand credits were deposited in the account. _Time to go shopping._

* * *

 

 **_10/04/2181_ **  
**_18:53_ **  
**_Kenzo district, Omega, Sahrabarik system, Omega nebula_ **

I walked back to the apartment I’d claimed as my own with a duffel bag filled with clothing, cigarettes, cosmetics and other basic necessities, a smile adorning my face. Turns out a credit is worth a twentieth of an American dollar. I still had some twelve thousand to throw around. _Still, that won’t last. I need to look into robbing the local gangs blind soon._

As I was walking down the passageway, thoughts were running in my mind a thousand miles a minute. One of them, however, was appearing more often than others. _I need a new name. Indigo died in 2003 and I don’t want to be associated with her. Diana Jessica Austin… Jessica is too simplistic for my liking. Let's change that to Jacqueline. Diana Jacqueline Austin, hmm…_

I was so preoccupied with my thoughts, I didn’t notice the batarian walking towards me until I was shoulder-barged and taken out of my reverie, the bag falling to the ground. “Excuse me,” I muttered reflexively as I took a step back and steadied myself.

The look the four-eyed freak gave me, however, was not one of goodwill and understanding. His head was leaning slightly to the right, all four of his black eyes were narrowed and his predatory scowl showed off his sharp pointy teeth. “’Excuse me’ ain’t gonna cut it, bitch,” he answered in a deep voice – _aw, fuck_ – before winding back for a punch.

I felt my heart give a very powerful beat in my chest before darkness exploded around me and covered my immediate surroundings. _Whoa. Can’t help but wonder just what the extent of my powers is._

The batarian wasn’t doing so well. The moment the darkness encompassed the area around me, I heard a muffled gasp as the punch he was about to throw was abandoned in favor of clutching at his skin, trying to get rid of the sticky sensation of my unnatural darkness. _I wonder how you like that, you son of a bitch._

Unfortunately, he wasn’t the only one having trouble seeing things. Operating purely on my hearing, I stumbled forward until I felt my hands grab a hold of something. Judging by the startled sound that came from right in front of me, I found what I was looking for. _An ‘excuse me’ ain’t gonna cut it, huh?_

I quickly found the bastard’s neck. I forcefully pushed his head to the side before acidly commenting, “Nothing you’ll ever do is gonna cut it. Bitch.” With that, I bared my fangs and sunk them into his artery.

By the time the cloud of darkness disappeared, I was nowhere to be seen. The dry body of a batarian was lying motionlessly on the rusty metal floor. I continued walking down the passageway back to my apartment, duffel bag in hand. _I suppose Desdemona is a good enough name. Desdemona Jacqueline Augustine… It’ll do._

* * *

 _**10/04/2181** _  
_**19:22** _  
_**Desdemona’s apartment, Kenzo district, Omega, Sahrabarik system, Omega nebula** _

As soon as I dropped the bag, I fished out the hairbrush and did my best to ensure my hair wasn’t looking like the nest of a bird before tying it into a tight ponytail. With that out of the way, I changed into a more fitting outfit. It was a pair of dark blue jeans, a black tight-fitting t-shirt and a leather jacket. A set of combat boots completed my attire.

Finally, strapped on a holster to my right hip and put on the last piece of gear I bought – an Edge I pistol produced by Elkoss Combine. _Fucking peashooter, but it’s better than nothing._

 _The next step is to find some music,_ I thought and plopped down onto the sofa, activating my omni-tool and looking for a music app. _Let’s see, looks like something’s already there._

As soon as I turned on the quote-unquote ‘music’, I felt my ears start bleeding from just how terrible this mix of techno and pop was. _Son of a-_

I immediately shut it off and went looking for something more bearable. _Wonder if rock’s still around._

As it turned out, rock had suffered the same fate in 2050s jazz had succumbed to in 1970s. Still, I found some old classics as well as things I never got to hear because I happened to die before they came out. _Tsk, these people have no taste if they allowed such an amazing genre to die._

When I saw the price tag, I nearly fainted. _Fucking two thousand per song? Are you joking?_ I then looked up various less-than-legitimate download links and filled my music library with content from those. _I don’t care that it’s piracy, those artists are long dead anyway._

With those tasks done, I decided to study the layout of the district. _I desperately need intel on the gangs in the area, as well as their usual stomping grounds and operations. I also need to know about any establishments these people may frequent…_

Twenty minutes later, I shut off the omni-tool in frustration. There was little to no data on the going-ons, no detailed maps. The only thing of importance I managed to find were the names of two local gangs – the Red Cobras and the Warhounds.

 _Well. Guess I’ll have to do this the old-fashioned way,_ I thought and walked out of the apartment.

* * *

 _**11/04/2181** _  
_**07:26** _  
_**Desdemona’s apartment, Kenzo district, Omega, Sahrabarik system, Omega nebula** _

I quietly walked into the apartment, locked the door behind me and immediately started undressing. _Goddamn, these recon sorties can be tiring._

I didn’t find anything earth-shattering, other than the fact that the apartment is right on the border of the Cobras and the Warhounds and that the gangs are currently engaged in a turf war. I also scouted out the surrounding area and committed it to my memory. Another thing I noticed – avoiding detection when you don’t show up on cameras and can manipulate shadows is child’s play.

I haphazardly shoved my clothing into the wardrobe and plopped down onto the bed. As sleep was claiming me, a random thought ran through my head, _I really should find somebody to guard me while I sleep – as well as somebody to help me with hair and makeup._ With that, my consciousness slipped away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just like last time, feel free to tell me what you guys think in the comments.


	3. Landsknecht

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Desdemona runs into someone similar to herself and gets a mentor (sort of) in the aftermath.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While this may seem like a certain road to Mary Sue-dom, I promise - to myself more than to you guys - that I won't take it there.

_**11/04/2181** _   
_**19:44** _   
_**Fighter’s Haven, Kenzo district, Omega, Sahrabarik system, Omega nebula** _

I walked into the dingy little bar next to the quote-unquote ‘shopping center’. A very strong scent of alcohol and sweat hit me the moment I passed through the door. _Just the kind of place I’m looking for._

My plan was to find a drunken gang member, get him or her to spill the beans about their operations and disrupt some of the gangs’ activities. The hope was to find a shipment of slaves and recruit one of them to help me with my hair and makeup, as well as to watch over my body when I sleep. _Simple, right?_

I cast a glance around the establishment in an attempt to detect a single gang member. Unfortunately for me, the entire place was filled with shady individuals with no way to tell who belongs to a gang and who is just a patron. _Dammit. Fine. Plan B it is then._

I walked up to the bartender – a scarred mean-looking turian. “Straight vodka,” I told the guy as soon as I was close enough to be heard, transferring the paltry 20 credits to the bar via my omni-tool. While the bartender was working, I sat onto a stool.

Soon enough, the glass was slid to me, the turian worker looking at me rather judgmentally. Staring at my drink in the glass, I thought back to how I made that asari stop dead in her tracks just by telling her to stop. _Maybe I could replicate that…_ I raised my head and met his unfriendly gaze.

As I was peering into his dark green eyes, I concentrated as much as I could to project my will onto his, all the while quietly saying, “Tell me everything you know about the conflict between the Red Cobras and the Warhounds.” A familiar tingling appeared in the back of my head. _Come on…_

Suddenly, I felt something give inside of his mind. The sharp look in his eyes was replaced by a dull expression. _Yes!_ He immediately started talking in a quiet monotone, “The fighting has come to a stalemate. Both sides have lost a lot of manpower and resources. While the Cobras are considering stopping, the Warhounds will never quit this fight unless Jaroth is removed from power.” _Interesting._

Still intently staring into his eyes, I continued my interrogation, “Tell me what you know about Jaroth.”

The turian did as I commanded, “Jaroth is a batarian who runs the Warhounds. From what I heard he is a ruthless leader, pushing his gang to unreasonable standards and never backing down, no matter what the cost. It is my understanding that he is the one in charge due to a coup he has executed several months ago.” _Great, means they’ll either fracture or disband entirely with a change in management._

With that, I gave my final command, “Point me at the gang members in this bar and tell me of their allegiance.”

His talons pointed at a group of batarians sitting in the corner and he spoke, “The batarians in the back. They belong to the Warhounds.” The aforementioned group of five batarians was staring right at me. _Well… shit._

I looked back to the bartender and commented, “I better be going. Have a good one.” With that, I purposefully walked out of the bar leaving my untouched drink on the counter and immediately strafed into a small alleyway. As soon as I was out of view, I pulled my gun out of its holster and took aim. I also covered myself with as much shadow as I could muster. _Come on, you stupid sons of bitches…_

Soon enough, I heard boots on the ground as the Warhounds were hot on my heels. One of them rushed around the corner, closely followed by another. “Over here! I saw her go there!” the second one shouted and the first continued running. Right past me, and further down the passageway. After a short moment, all five of then ran mere meters from me, down the alleyway and away from me. _Idiots._

I aimed at the last one and fired a single bullet square at the back of his head. Moments later, a blue barrier materialized between my target and the pellet fired from the pistol. _What the- Ah. Of course, kinetic barriers are a thing now._

With that realization, I squeezed the trigger four more times. The first bullet harmlessly bounced off of the shield, while the second one broke through it. The third made a mess of the batarian’s stomach and the fourth hit him in the head, ending his life there and then. The pistol beeped a warning – overheated. _Bloody useless, this gun!_

With a sneer, I dropped the weapon and charged the remaining gangsters head-on. I felt my heart beat once and strength welled up in my arms and legs as I continued my reckless advance. _Now I’ve got you._

By the time the rest of the mobsters reached for their weapons and started aiming in my general direction, I was already upon them. _Too slow._

The first one I reached received a punch to the gut, my fist effortlessly going through his skin and rupturing his internal organs. He died on the spot.

The second was still trying to pull his pistol out of the holster when I came within striking range. I grabbed his arm – the one fumbling with the weapon – and snapped it at the elbow before locking his neck in a hold and twisting violently. He immediately went limp in my arms with a satisfying crack.

The third had his pistol trained at me, but when he tried to pull the trigger it didn’t move. _Safety is still on. Moron._ For his trouble, I kicked him in the shin. I could hear the bones in his leg break as he went crashing down to the floor. Before he could hit the ground, my fist met his face and turned it into a pulpy mess.

As I looked to the last batarian, he fired his pistol. One, two, three tiny pellets went right through my chest and out my back, dealing no significant damage and serving only to piss me off. _Mistake._ _Now you’ve made me angry. The rest died quickly. You, however… You are going to suffer._

I stepped forward and easily wrenched the pistol out of the gangster's hands. Looking him straight in the eyes, I squeezed his weapon with all my might and the gun crumpled under the forces I exerted. He looked absolutely terrified. Hell, I could smell the fear rolling off of him in waves. _Yeah, looks like you realize just how fucked you are._

He quickly turned around and booked it. _Wrong move._ I concentrated as hard as I could on the shadows surrounding us. My intention was to engulf him in darkness and let him choke to death. Something much more exciting happened, however.

A tentacle of pure concentrated darkness shot out from the wall in front of the fleeing mobster and hit him in the chest, making him reel back in shock and terror as he fell on his ass. His clothing was sizzling where the appendage had struck, as if singed by an acid. _Whoa. Okay, I seriously need to push myself to the limits when it comes to shadows, who knows what else I’m capable of._

I grinned at the sight and quickly approached the last living batarian in the alleyway. I bodily picked him up and threw him into the wall right next to the tentacle before making the appendage wrap around his torso, keeping him restrained. His attire started slowly dissolving where the arm of the Abyss touched it. _Very interesting. Let’s see what you have to say._

I absent-mindedly licked the blood off of my hands as I observed the thug. All four of his eyes were wide open, the tattered clothing looking absolutely disgusting with a yellow stain making its appearance on his pants. _Pathetic._

I narrowed my eyes at the excuse of a sentient in front of me before demanding in a voice cold enough to put out a star, “Tell me of every single operation the Warhounds are currently involved in.”

He sputtered, “I- I don’t know-” Before he could finish the sentence, I rammed my fist into the wall right next to his head. _Don’t you dare spoon-feed me this line of bullshit and call it candy._

Barely being able to restrain my rage, I hissed into his ear, “Wrong answer. Think very carefully before saying anything else.”

He cringed away from me and replied in a terrified tone, “Look, I’m just a grunt! I know fuck-all, just guard the fucking warehouse and that’s it, I swear! By the Pillars, just-”

I interrupted him with a bitchslap, my long nails scarring his skin and drawing thin lines of blood across his features. Bringing myself centimeters away from his face, I seethed, my visage contorted in fury, “Where is the warehouse?!”

His eyes wet with tears, he responded barely suppressing a sob, “Four levels under the Fighter’s Haven! Here in Kenzo!” _A target. Good._

I moved an inch or two back, my face much more collected that moments before, “What is inside the warehouse?” He merely sobbed in response. _Useless._

Seeing that I had nothing more to gain there, I forced his mouth open with my hand and pushed the tentacle into his mouth and down his throat. Immediately he started screaming in obvious pain before gagging at the intrusion. I took several steps away from my victim, all the while making sure to get a good 30-40 centimeters in with the tentacle. Finally, I expanded it inside of his body in a way similar to how one would flex a muscle. His throat and chest exploded in a bloody mess, covering the surrounding area in gore. With that done, I dissipated the dark appendage. _Next stop, the warehouse._

As soon as I turned to leave the alleyway, however, I stopped dead in my tracks – a man was leaning against a wall mere meters behind me. He was wearing a pair of cargo pants and a grey t-shirt, as well as a pair of old-looking but well-maintained trainers. His dirty blond hair was hanging loose down to his shoulders, a well-cared-for beard was covering the lower part of his face. His light blue eyes shone with intelligence as a smirk slowly appeared on his lips. _You’d think people would run away after what I just did. Fear of the unknown and all that._

I tilted my head to the side when the man in question chuckled and gave me a slow clap. He looked to the trail of bodies, his eyes stopping on the one I interrogated, and commented in a surprisingly soft tone, “Nicely done. The questioning in particular was something straight out of the movies.” _So, he saw that. Doesn’t explain why he’s not running._

I bared my teeth and made the shadows behind me dance in a hellish picture of waving arms trying to claw their way out of the wall. My hands clenched into fists as I assumed a fighting stance and prepared to go into combat once more.

The man in front of me raised his open-palmed hands before him in a placating gesture before he replied to my show of force, “Easy there, Umbra.” His eyes then started glowing an angry red, going through my shadows. As I glanced to the wall behind me, the shadows were being removed one by one as the red glow passed over them. _What the hell?_

With the shadows gone, he added, “I ain’t judging. But really, you might wanna ask questions first and shoot later.” The red in his eyes disappeared.

Still ready to fight, I narrowed my eyes and answered in a terse tone, “Fine. Who and what are you?”

He let his hands drop down to his sides as an amused smile appeared on his face. “Same thing as you, Umbra. Landsknecht, at your service.” With that, he gave me an overly dramatic bow and his smile widened further. I could only raise an eyebrow at his antics. _Well. That would explain a great deal._ He continued, “I didn’t know your clan survived the Inquisition, Umbra.”

I slowly dropped my combat stance. Leaning against the wall I replied, “You learn something new every day.” Suddenly, I realized what he just said. I tilted my head to the side and asked, curiosity coloring my tone, “Clan?”

It was Landsknecht’s turn to tilt his head to the side. He replied, his tone inquisitive, “You mean you don’t know anything about us and our society?”

I looked back to the trail of corpses I left in my wake, “So there is a society, huh. No, I don’t know anything about us or our society,” I replied and made a small pause. “Frankly, I have no idea how I ended up here, much less what I have become,” I finished.

Landsknecht shook his head before answering, “Wouldn’t expect anything else from a Lasombra, Umbra.” He sighed and continued, “Wanna swing by my place? I’ll show you the basics. Could save your unlife, you know.”

I took a moment to think about the offer. On one hand, I really did need anything and everything regarding what being a vampire entails. On the other hand, he could also try to lure me into a false sense of security and kill me. But then again, he could’ve killed me when I was busy with the batarians. _Oh, screw it. What’s the worst thing that can happen?_

I pushed myself from the wall I was leaning on and answered in a steady voice, “Lead the way.”

* * *

_**11/04/2181** _   
_**22:16** _   
_**Landsknecht’s apartment, Gozu district, Omega, Sahrabarik system, Omega nebula** _

As Landsknecht – the man refused to give me his actual name and I, in turn, never gave him mine – led me into his apartment, I couldn’t help but feel a stab of jealousy at how much nicer his neighborhood was compared to mine.

Gozu district was run by the Blue Suns, a powerful mercenary company or a crime syndicate, depending on how one looks at it. Despite their questionable reputation, the district was well-maintained and there was no violence in the streets – unlike in Kenzo, where nobody batted an eye at the occasional corpse and shootouts were commonplace. As long as everybody paid up in time, there was no trouble in Gozu.

Landsknecht’s apartment, likewise, blew mine out of the water. There was more space, the furniture was in better shape, there were even some paintings hanging from the walls and, most important of all, it was so much cleaner. _I really gotta step up my game._

The man plopped down onto an exceedingly comfortable-looking leather divan and motioned me to do the same, “Have a seat, Umbra. There’s a lot of things you’re gonna need to know.”

Seeing no reason to stand, I gently lowered myself onto other end the sofa. “So, what are those things you wanted to tell me?” I asked without dancing around the subject.

Landsknecht crossed his legs, looked off to the side and hummed before giving a reply, “I suppose I should start with what I already touched upon in the alley in Kenzo.” He reestablished eye contact with me, “What do you think?”

My reply was prompt and to the point, “I’m all ears.”

The man took a moment to stroke his beard before speaking, “Well, okay. Clans. There are nine in total – ten, if we count your resurgence. Those clans are Assamite or Banu Haqim as they prefer to be called, Brujah, Gangrel, Malkavian, Nosferatu, Setite or the Followers of Set, Toreador, Tremere and Ventrue. With you being here, we can add Lasombra to that list.”

He then asked, “Still with me?” Without giving me any time to reply whatsoever, he continued, “Good, because that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Before we drift off to other topics, let me go into the three dead clans – Giovanni, Ravnos and Tzimisce. Clans Giovanni and Tzimisce were hunted down and exterminated by the Second Inquisition in the 21st century, while clan Ravnos was all but wiped out by their Antediluvian – clan founder – when he awoke from his slumber in 1999.” He made a small pause before finishing the thought, “I thought Lasombra died together with Tzimisce, but that’s evidently not the case.”

I took a long moment to remember the names I was given. A heavy silence filled the air between us as Landsknecht looked at me expectantly. I was staring off into nothingness, trying to commit everything to memory.

Finally, I replied, my tone inquisitive, “Okay. What is the difference between these clans and how did you immediately know mine?”

The blond tilted his head back a bit before he gave me an answer, “Different clans have affinities for different powers, or Disciplines as we call them. Lasombra is the only clan to practice Obtenebration – manipulation of shadows – and that’s exactly what you were doing in that alleyway.”

Once again, I remained silent for a few seconds, letting the information sink in. “So, wait. Are those Disciplines you speak of exclusive to certain clans? For example’s sake, can a Ventrue learn Obtenebration?” I asked for clarification after a moment’s pause.

The blue-eyed vampire next to me looked pensive at that. His eyes wandered the apartment for a moment before he replied, “Yes and no. Certain clans merely have affinity for certain Disciplines, that does not mean they are only ever capable of learning those particular abilities.”

He paused to take a breath, “As for your example. In theory, it is a possibility, yes. In actuality? I highly doubt that. Ventrue and Lasombra have always been rivals, and this hostility dates to the times of Ancient Rome. There’s practically no chance of a Ventrue and a Lasombra being close enough to teach each other their Disciplines.”

After a moment of silence, I gave a response, “Alright, I see. Are there any other Disciplines Lasombra excel in?”

Landsknecht hummed and answered, “Yes, Umbra, there are. Dominate – the ability to break the minds of others – and Potence – unnatural strength.” He suddenly made eye contact and continued, “That’s how I actually found you at first, through your use of Dominate. The bartender at Fighter’s Haven, the turian. His brother was killed in the First Contact War, a white phosphorus shell bombardment eliminated his unit – no survivors. He hates humans, doesn’t talk to them at all. When he started telling you something in a dull tone, I knew that you weren’t exactly human. Not anymore.”

He broke off the eye contact and continued, “You’ve used Potence as well, even if it wasn’t a conscious decision on your part. The batarians you killed in that alleyway, did you notice how easily they died? And then you crushed the last gang member’s pistol in your hand like it was nothing.”

He shook his head, “If I didn’t talk to you, I’d have assumed you’re much more experienced. Not many can survive – much less figure out their clan Disciplines – by themselves.”

I went to ask Landsknecht another question, but he continued before I could voice it, “Speaking of. You’re completely clueless about everything else.”

He cleared his throat and started talking again, “Something you should know about is the Beast.” An ominous silence rang in the air as my impromptu mentor made a pause for dramatic effect.

After a moment he continued, “The Beast is a wild animal. Desperate and scared, it is willing to do anything to survive. It’s always lurking under the surface, waiting for an opportune moment to take over. And if it does, blood will flow. When it relents, it is you who has to deal with the consequences.”

Without giving me an opening to say anything, he went on, “The less humane you are, the easier it is for the Beast to take over. That is why you should never kill innocents and indulge in violence – the more you erode your humanity, the more you Frenzy. And the more you Frenzy, the more you distance yourself from what little humanity remains in you. It’s a downward spiral, and if you can’t keep yourself in check you’ll pass the point of no return in no time.” With that, he fell silent.

Once again, I let the silence ring as I was digesting everything I’d just heard. A question arose in my head, “So wait. I can’t kill anyone? That’s a bit, uh, restrictive, no? Plus, I’ve already put a number of people six feet under and I’m still in control of myself.”

Landsknecht grinned and quickly answered, “That’s not what I said, Umbra, not what I said at all. You should avoid killing innocents,” he emphasized the last word. “If someone is looking to do you harm, do not hesitate to nail the fucker to the nearest wall, open up his stomach and choke him with his own intestines. Self-defense is a vital part of humanity, after all,” he added.

I could only raise an eyebrow at the rather graphic description, “I see. I will take that under consideration.”

He quickly replied, “Well, don’t go declaring your presence like that, I was taking an artistic license with that particular example. You go beat your chest and roar, well, that’s how the Inquisition finds you and puts you down. Just because you’re immortal doesn’t mean you can’t be destroyed.”

I responded, “Alright, I see. What are the ways one of us can be killed? Does anything from the books and movies hold water?”

Landsknecht scoffed at that, “You mean garlic, running water, crosses and all that bull? Forget about it. The only thing the fiction gets right is stake to the heart, and then it only paralyses you.”

He shook his head and continued, “Now, any firearm with a decent rate of fire and a caliber larger than your basic pistol? That’s bad news. Fire? That’ll end your existence in a heartbeat. Sunlight? Well, you catch a dawn and it’s all over, you hear me? It’s not an issue on stations and ships – the powerful eezo fields keep the stars at bay – but if you’re on a planet, it is the most lethal threat bar none.”

He went on, “And it’s extremely tough for us to survive in these times. Scanners of all sorts are everywhere, and a walking corpse tends to attract attention. Most scanners can be fooled with a conscious effort to keep your organs functioning. It takes a heavy toll on your vitae – the blood – but it’s the only way to survive. If you stay the way you are, you’re fucked.”

The man made a pause and I decided to voice a random thought that passed through my head, “What clan are you, by the way?”

Landsknecht answered immediately, “Gangrel. But let’s not get sidetracked, there are other things I wanted to tell you about.” Not giving me an opportunity to interrupt, he carried on, “The Blood Bond.”

He deeply inhaled before continuing, “If you feed somebody your blood three times on three separate occasions, he or she will stop aging, heal faster, become stronger and more dexterous, more charismatic, gain a shred of your power and - and here's the kicker - become enslaved to your will. To maintain the Blood Bond, you’ll need to feed your ghoul - that's our slang word for their kind - your blood at least once per month.”

He made a small pause and continued by saying, “Do keep in mind that your blood is an extremely potent drug and that overdose is still a threat. Should you attempt to bind somebody in such a way, be sure to keep the feedings at least a week apart.”

He leaned back and went on, “The effect of the Blood Bond is gradual. After the first feeding the one being bonded will feel strong affection for the domitor. He or she will unconsciously seek out the vampire, he or she will be likely to listen to any advice given by the domitor and so forth. After the second feeding it becomes nearly impossible to refuse a suggestion made by the domitor. After the third, the victim’s fate is sealed.”

A nervous chuckle escaped me, “So, wait a second. That can’t be right. You’re saying that you – that we – can have our way with people just like that, that our kind has done just that since time immemorial and nobody ever noticed it?”

Immediately, Landsknecht countered, “Oh, but they did notice. That’s how the Inquisition came to be. Both of them.” He leaned forward, “So don’t be an idiot about it and ghoul dozens of people. It will come back to bite you in the ass. Worse, it’ll reinitialize the Inquisition and every single one of us will be in tremendous danger once again,” he punctuated his point with rigid hand gestures.

I raised my hands in mock surrender, “I understand, Lands-”

I was interrupted by a heavy knock on the door. A gruff voice came from behind it, “Landsknecht! Boss’s calling for you. Long story short, Blood Pack's on the warpath again, so hurry the hell up!”

The Gangrel grimaced and shook his head. He then got up, motioned me to follow and called out in a loud voice, “I’ll be coming out in a moment, get the gunship ready.”

Lowering his voice, he said to me, “Duty calls. I was hoping to fill you in some more, but… Ah, hell, you’ll figure it out. Come on, both of us have places to go.”

Both of us got up from the sofa and started walking to the exit. Landsknecht pulled up his omni-tool, “If you ever need to find me, drop me a call.” After we exchanged our numbers, he smirked and commented, “No guarantees I’ll be free to answer, of course.”

With that, we left the apartment. “Have a pleasant evening, Umbra,” the vampire called out and quickly jogged off.

I stood there for a moment, before finally shaking my head at what had just transpired and walking to the shuttle station. _He’s right, I do have places to go. That warehouse is still standing._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, feel free to tell me what you think in the comments below.


	4. Raessa

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Umbra goes to assault a gang's warehouse and finds that somebody's done the job already.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I was replaying the trilogy lately, and it turns out that Jaroth is the head of Eclipse on Omega in 2185 - oops. Me giving the Warhounds' boss the same name is purely coincidental.

_**12/04/2181** _  
_**00:21** _  
_**Warhounds’ warehouse, Kenzo district, Omega, Sahrabarik system, Omega nebula** _

I scoffed in disgust the moment I stepped out of the shuttle from Gozu – Kenzo was a veritable shithole. On my approach to the location indicated by the thug I had interrogated before, things were only getting worse – piles of trash were lining the passageways and I could smell the distinct scent of rotting corpses over the general odor of Omega. _Seems like the lower the level, the worse the conditions. Christ, what a mess._

Just like Landsknecht had told me, trying to not set off every scanner in the vicinity was a heavy burden to bear. As soon as I left the shuttle station’s vicinity, I let my organs stop working again. _Why do the scanners even matter if I can’t be seen on cameras anyway? It’s better for me to not do that and just remain unseen completely._

As I was coming closer to the warehouse, a very distinct aroma that drowned out everything else hit my nostrils. It was the sweetest thing that called to me on the deepest level. It made my fangs sharpen and elongate as a feral thirst clawed at my chest. It made a heavy pounding resonate in my head as a red fog began clouding the edges of my vision. _Blood._

It took me a moment to get these primal urges in check. Once I was fully in control of myself, I quickly made my way to the warehouse. After what felt like hours, I finally saw the building in question. Plumes of acrid black smoke were escaping from it into the artificial atmosphere of Omega.

The metal door was bent inwards and two eviscerated corpses were lying motionlessly next to it – a turian and a human. Both were outfitted with flimsy-looking armor with the Warhounds symbol – a snarling rottweiler – on the pauldrons. Both were still smoking. That sent several warning bells in my head. _As much as I want to feed, dying due to stupidity is not on my agenda._

Gears were turning in my head as I observed the scene. _Somebody must have opened up the assault by firing with a missile launcher. The explosion killed the guards stationed on the outside and blew the door open._

Gunshots and screams coming from inside the warehouse reminded me that there was no time to think about it. Casting my musings aside, I willed the shadows to cover me as I carefully approached the opening. _Hopefully no stray shots hit me._

Peeking inside, I saw an asari in combat leathers fight against a group of Warhounds with proper arms and in proper armor. She held back the brunt of the attack with a biotic barrier all the while causing mayhem in the gangsters’ ranks. One by one, they fell to a well-timed warp, a powerful throw, a crushing singularity or a precise gunshot. _Damn, she’s good._

Still, this was a fight of attrition and she was just one asari. After taking another barrage of fire, the barrier flickered and died with several bullets striking her unprotected torso. In an act of desperation, she threw her arms out and blasted the surviving Hounds with a biotic artillery strike – _holy shit, that wasn’t a missile launcher at the entrance, she’s just that powerful!_ – killing the lot of them in a spectacular explosion before falling over, bleeding from the wounds in her body as well as from her nose and her ears.

As I was about to go into the building proper, a loud gunshot interrupted my thoughts. The prone form of the asari twitched as a heavy slug impacted into her lower back. Moments later, a human belonging to the Warhounds emerged from behind a crate. He was holding a sniper rifle with a small cloud of smoke escaping the barrel. _And that’s my meal right there._

I threw a glance to the asari and, deciding that she’s not a threat at the moment, ran at the human at a full sprint. As I made my rapid approach, I saw his eyes widen for a fleeting moment. That second of confusion quickly passed as he leveled his weapon my way, but that instant of hesitation was all I needed to close the short distance between us.

Before the rifle could bark in his hands once more, I jumped at him. He was unable to do a thing as I locked my legs behind his back, pushed his head to the side and sank my fangs into his neck. Ecstasy unlike anything else filled my entire being as his blood poured down my throat.

I could dimly hear the man drop his gun to the floor. I could faintly feel him lose his balance and fall to the ground with me on top, but none of that mattered to me as I swallowed a mouthful after a mouthful.

All too soon for me, the blood stopped flowing as I was sucking on a dry, dead artery. _Ah… Holy Christ, I needed that._

I got up and looked around me. The warehouse was a mess. Crates filled with a fine red powder were slowly burning, there were numerous scorch marks on the walls, bodies were strewn about the floor _._ _That asari really did a number on this place. Speaking of…_

I approached her prone form and kneeled down. She was bleeding profusely from where she’d been shot. As I went to check her pulse, she weakly moaned in pain and pushed herself into a sitting position. She blinked several times before her jade eyes locked onto mine.

The asari tried to say something to me, but broke down in a coughing fit before she could utter a word. Purple blood leaked out of the corner of her mouth. _She’s not gonna make it unless I help her._

With that realization, I thought back to what Landsknecht had told me just hours prior. Specifically, my mind went back to the Gangrel’s words about the Blood Bond. _And she wrecked this warehouse all by herself. I think she’ll be able to do so much more with a little boost._

My mind made up, I quickly pulled up the sleeve of my jacket and bit into my own wrist before bringing it up to the asari’s mouth. “Here, drink this. It will save your life and help you recover,” I said in a soothing tone.

The dying asari looked at me, tears of resignation already marring her purple facial markings. When she realized I’m not a Warhound, hope blossomed on her face before her eyes widened at what I’d just said and done. _Don’t be silly, just drink!_ After a moment of hesitation, she recognized that there was no better alternative and tentatively sealed her lips around the small wound on my wrist. _There we go._

The first sip she took was very cautious. The next one, less so. Following those two, she gripped my arm with her hands and began drinking in the earnest. _Well, who knew you’d be so enthusiastic?_

I let her have five gulps in total before gently pushing her head away from my wrist and moving my arm away from her. As soon as she let go of it, I instinctually brought it up to my mouth and licked at my wrist. The twin puncture marks closed by themselves and disappeared moments later.

When I looked to the asari she was lying on the floor unconscious. I could see her chest rise and fall as her breathing stabilized. _Good, she just needs some rest and she’ll be up and about in no time._

I took a moment to move her out of sight and into the shadows – behind the same crate where that sniper had hidden – before looting the dead. While my primary focus was on credit chits, I was also looking for a replacement pistol – something better than the one I’d thrown away after it’d failed miserably in the alleyway behind Fighter’s Haven.

As luck would have it, while I was looking over the mangled corpse of a turian close to ground zero of that strike and liberating him of his money, I noticed a rugged-looking heavy pistol lying on the ground next to the body. I picked it up and, while I was in process of determining whether this gun was worth taking, I heard a loud clanging noise come from outside the building followed by multiple footfalls. _Dammit, I should’ve gotten out sooner._

With no time to waste, I shoved the weapon into my holster and rushed to the unconscious asari before concentrating the shadows around us to keep us hidden, all the while making sure to keep them away from her face. _After all, I want her alive._

And not a moment to soon, because seconds later a group of batarians, humans and turians in matching armor ran through the front door, all but one wielding assault rifles. The one exception was a batarian in the back with a visor covering his eyes. In his hands he was holding a light machinegun. I took a moment to count their number – there were thirteen. _Well, shit. Not liking my odds at all._

Seeing that a direct confrontation would result in my near-certain demise, I started looking for any ways out which wouldn’t lead me directly into the line of fire.

While I was frantically searching for an exit, the batarian in the back yelled out in a gruff tone with barely constrained fury, “Fan out! Look for anything that will lead us to whoever did this!”

Immediately the group dispersed and began looking for clues. One of them – a human – came precariously close to my hiding spot, walking right past the crate. Afraid that he would turn around and see either me or the asari, I acted.

Lightning-quick, I wrapped my right arm around his torso bringing him behind the crate while my left hand went over his mouth to keep him quiet. As soon as I thought he was out of his comrades’ sight, I locked my right arm around his neck and sharply twisted it, leaving it bent at an unnatural angle.

By sheer dumb luck, something in the back of the building went off and a loud explosion rocked the warehouse, covering our brief struggle. The Hounds were quick to abandon whatever they were doing to investigate the detonation, leaving the front door mostly unguarded – the only person who could viably open fire was the LMG-wielding batarian. _There won’t be a better opportunity to leave. Time to go._

With that on my mind, I quietly threw the asari over my shoulder and started quickly moving towards the door. I was doing everything in my power to stay silent and unseen as I made my exit. _Here’s hoping this doesn’t fail miserably…_

Everything seemed to be going fine for the first half of the getaway. With the shadows covering me, I seemed to be making my way out of the warehouse without any complications. _So far, so good…_

And then the batarian sprayed me and the asari on my shoulder with several bursts of fire from his machinegun. _Shit, fuck, balls, tits and ass!_

Had I still been living, that would’ve put me in my grave there and then. But living I was not, and killing something that’s already dead is no easy feat.

I didn’t bother returning fire – my only goal was getting the hell out of there as quickly as possible. To further that goal, I summoned a cloud of darkness in between myself and the door and ran as fast as my legs would carry me.

At that point, the batarian stopped firing in controlled bursts and switched to full-auto – he sprayed the entire area with bullets. And while the cloud obscured vision, it did nothing to slow the deadly projectiles down.

Suppressing a shout of pain, I collapsed to the ground just as the asari slid from her position on my shoulder down to the ground. With my concentration broken, the cloud disappeared. _Oh, this is not good. This is not good at all._

Just as I was mentally preparing myself for another storm of bullets, a blue barrier materialized in between myself and the batarian just in time for the pellets to harmlessly bounce off of it. More than a little shocked, I turned to look at the asari on the ground next to me. She was lying on her back, her hands outstretched towards the batarian and her face twisted in a pained grimace as she struggled to maintain the barrier. _I knew helping you would pay off in the end._

As quickly as I could, I scrambled back to my feet, picked her up and legged it out of there. The moment we were out of the building, the barrier collapsed and the asari on my shoulder lost consciousness once again. _  
_

While we were out of the warehouse, I knew we weren’t out of trouble just yet – twelve very pissed off Warhounds were right on our taillights. _‘Calm people live, tense people die’_ was the mantra repeating itself in my head again and again and again as I forced myself to stay calm and collected through sheer force of will.

As I was looking for a way out, my eyes stopped on a shuttle in front of the warehouse that hadn’t been there when I came in. The Warhounds symbol was stamped on its open door. _That’ll do._

Wasting no time, I dashed inside. As the pilot – a turian female – turned to look at me, I silently cursed and went for my new pistol. The pilot rushed at me, but before she could get close enough to do anything I squeezed the trigger three times, executing a classic Mozambique drill. The first bullet shattered her personal kinetic barrier, the second bullet punched through her chest armor stopping the woman dead in her tracks and the third bullet splattered her brain matter over the shuttle’s interior.

With that complication out of the way, I dropped the unconscious asari into the co-pilot chair and took the pilot’s seat myself. My eyes were frantically running over the readouts as I tried to figure out how to operate the vehicle. _Come on, come on, come on!_

After what felt like hours but in actuality was merely seconds, I found the on/off switch. Without any hesitation, I hit it. “All systems online,” a pleasant artificial female voice said.

As the shuttle came to life and the engines started roaring, the display highlighted two buttons, ‘VTOL’ and ‘flight’. I hit the former and the voice which I now attributed to the shuttle’s VI said, “Landing mode activated.” A lever to my left and a flight stick to my right highlighted themselves with a gentle glow. I pulled at the lever and the aircraft slowly began gaining altitude. _Well, this is going better than I anticipated._

At this point, the mobsters ran out of the burning warehouse, guns blazing. Bullets were ricocheting off of the vehicle’s kinetic barrier as a blue bar on the interface began rapidly depleting. _Scratch that, this is about to go as well as was expected._

I oriented the shuttle away from the opposing force and hit the ‘flight’ button. The VI’s gentle voice came from the speakers, “Warning: the portside exit is currently open. This vehicle may not enter flight mode with an open exit.” Immediately, the VI continued, “Warning: kinetic barriers are at 50%,” True to its words, the blue bar on the readouts was now half-empty. _Argh, stupid machine!_

As quickly as possible, I got out of the seat and ran to the door, looking for a way to close it. Thankfully, an ‘open/close’ lever right by the door was very hard to miss. I immediately switched it to the ‘close’ position and as the door slowly began to seal, I hurried back to the controls. The VI said in its calm monotone, “Warning: kinetic barriers are at 10%.” _Yeah, no shit! If only you’d fucking fly when you’re told to fly!_

The moment I was in place, I smashed my hand on the ‘flight’ button. I heard the VI say, “Flight mode activated,” but I paid it no mind because all my focus went into getting out of there without crashing and burning. As I was hightailing it out of there, my eyes fell on the shields meter on the display. The bar was nearly completely depleted and readout said, ‘Kinetic barriers strength: 3%’. _Too fucking close._

After a tense five minutes or so of very unsafe flying, I got comfortable enough with the controls to maneuver the vehicle without too much trouble. I decided to fly around the station for 30 minutes or so to lose any tail I might have had.

When I was sure nobody was following the shuttle, I hit the autopilot button and set it to go to an abandoned building that I’d found during my initial scouting about 200 meters away from my apartment. I also absent-mindedly noted that my bullet wounds have already closed up before looking at the body of the turian pilot. _Hopefully, the people won’t mind having another corpse dumped at the streets._

 _**12/04/2181** _  
_**02:43** _  
_**Desdemona’s apartment, Kenzo district, Omega, Sahrabarik system, Omega nebula** _

As soon as I entered my apartment, I bandaged up the still-unconscious asari and put her into my couch before changing my clothes – machinegun fire had not been kind to the set I’d been wearing. _I need a kinetic barrier generator ASAP, otherwise I’ll run out of stuff to wear in less than half a week._

Now in a non-ruined outfit, I came up to the sofa and moved the asari a bit so that I could sit down myself. As soon as I moved my hands away from her, however, her head fell back down right into my lap. With a roll of my eyes, I allowed myself to relax for a brief moment.

Some five minutes later, I pulled up my omni-tool and transferred all the money I’d looted to my account. It came up to the twenty thousand I’d started with. _Sweet._ With that out of the way, I opened up an extranet browser. There were things I needed to research.

First thing first, I looked up the pistol I’d acquired. A quick search in the extranet revealed it to be a Stiletto IV, licensed by Haliat Armory – one of the smaller turian weapon manufacturers. _17 shots before overheat, laudable stopping power with above-average accuracy, this is one hell of a gun. I guess this is what you can expect from a weapon made by the turians. I’m definitely keeping this one._

I then began looking through different shuttles to figure out just what I’d stolen. After half an hour of research I recognized the vehicle as a UT-22 ‘Avalon’ shuttle manufactured by Cord-Hislop Aerospace and Nashan Stellar Dynamics in a joint venture – both of those companies being relatively large human corporations.

The design had been rolled out in 2153 and as such was now quite an archaic model. The cost of one varied depending on the specifications, but generally speaking it was hanging around two million credits. _Interesting. I think I’ll keep it for now, but I definitely need to look into this matter some more before I come to a decision._

Finally, I decided to find some information about personal armor, possibilities for customization and personal kinetic barriers. An hour or so later, I had a general idea of my short-term and long-term goals when it came to personal protection.

For now, I wanted – at the minimum – armor plates from a Gladiator IV by Elkoss Combine and a shield generator from a Duelist III by Elanus Risk Control. _With a little creativity and quite a bit of omni-gel application, I should be able to put the plates into my normal clothing, and slapping on a shield generator shouldn’t be an issue._

In the long-term, I wanted two sets of Colossus armor by Kassa Fabrication – the very best on the market. One of them I’d tear apart and outfit my clothing with armor plating and shields, the second I’d keep for when I’m expecting to be in the thick of it. _Hopefully never, but knowing me it’ll happen more often than not._

I was about to start looking for armor and weapon stores on Omega because that quote-unquote ‘shopping center’ doesn’t have anything even half-decent when it comes to equipment, when the asari in my lap began stirring awake. _This ought to be interesting._

She groggily shook her head and blinked several times before recoiling away from me and rolling off of the sofa. She quickly stood up in a fighting stance, looking right at me. I could only raise an eyebrow at the display.

Still sitting on the sofa, I said in a bemused tone, “You know, if I wanted you dead you’d be dead.” Evidently, that was the wrong thing to say because as soon as those words left my mouth, she flared her biotics. _Ah, hell._ I shook my head and dismissed my omni-tool, “Calm down, will you? I didn’t save you just so that we would fight over a miscommunication.”

The asari widened her eyes in realization as she immediately dropped the stance and checked her now-bandaged lower back. She then muttered in a somewhat baffled tone, “So that wasn’t a hallucination after all.” She paused for a moment and collected herself before continuing, her voice dripping with accusation, “What did you do to me?” _Oh, come on now, seriously?_

I pursed my lips in annoyance before replying with a slightly sarcastic intonation in my voice, “You mean besides saving your life and hauling your ass away from that slaughterhouse?”

She took a step forward and pointed a finger at me, “You know damn well what I’m talking about!” Pacing back and forth she went on, “Why do the things about you seem so familiar to me? From the bemused expression to the sarcastic undertone to the relaxed posture – damn well everything! Why does it feel like you’ve always been there?”

She stopped pacing and turned on her heel to face me, “Tevura’s sake, I kissed your wrist back in that warehouse! And I’m positive I drank your blood! What in the Deeps have you done to me?!” she demanded. _Ah, so this is what the problem is._

I sighed and looked away from the asari for a moment. Finally, I met her eyes and answered, all traces of sarcasm gone from my voice, “It’s just like I said – I saved your life.” I continued in a gentle tone, “Come here, sit down. I’ll try to explain.”

It seemed to me that venting those thoughts calmed her down a bit, because she complied and promptly sat down on the other end of the sofa before expectantly looking at me. _Well, here goes nothing._

I sighed once again before starting, “Okay. Oh, what’s your name, by the way?” _Fucking smooth, Mona. Great job explaining your vampiric condition to the poor girl._

Thankfully, she didn’t seem to notice my internal dialogue and answered, “I’m Raessa.” _Eloquent._

I replied, “Desdemona. A pleasure.” Quickly, I continued, “Anyway. Raessa, do you believe in fairytales?”

The asari in question scoffed slightly before responding with annoyance coloring her speech, “What does that have to do with anything?” _Oh, if only you knew, Raessa. If only you knew._

I chuckled mirthlessly at her indignation before replying to that question in a deadpan, “You’re looking at one.”

For a brief moment that lasted less than a second, she looked outraged. That outrage quickly passed however, as she looked at my decidedly unhumorous face. “You’re serious, aren’t you?” she asked with astonishment in her voice.

“Dead serious,” I confirmed with a small nod. With that, I bared my teeth and showed the asari my elongated canines. Raessa’s eyes widened ever so slightly at the display.

Paying it no mind, I continued, “A mythical creature of the night, one of the damned and the fallen, forever destined to walk upon the Earth – if you believe the folklore, that is.” _Walk upon the Earth, yeah sure, uh-huh, whatever. Damn legends never anticipated interstellar travel, have they now?_

I scoffed at my own words before finishing the thought, “Part of me wants to say that in reality, I’m just a very dangerous woman with access to supernatural powers who has to drink the blood of the living to sustain herself, but I know that it’s not the case.” _That’d be too easy. No, it always has to be complicated._

I continued, “Clinically, I’m dead. There’s no pulse, no activity from my organs unless I consciously activate them for short periods of time and my body does not produce any heat.” I made a small pause before giving the most damning piece of evidence, “And if that’s not enough for you to be convinced, I don’t have a reflection – just like in the fairytales.”

When I looked to Raessa, she seemed to be suffering from an information overload. Her bright green eyes looked unfocused as she was staring into an abyss a thousand miles away, her mouth slightly open in shock. _Damn. I guess I adjusted well enough and quickly enough – I can’t even imagine looking quite like that._

I lightly shook my head at her and moved to get up before she suddenly came back from her reverie, “No, wait!” she started, her tone urgent. As I obliged, she continued in a softer tone, “The things you’ve told me are great and all – if a bit hard to believe – but you still haven’t explained why you seem so familiar.” _Ah, that. Alright, fingers crossed I can pull this one off._

I sat back down onto the sofa and quietly sighed before replying, “I gave you some of my blood.” I gave her no time to interrupt, “Among other things, it boosts your ability to survive deadly blows and quickly heal even the most grievous injuries.”

The asari leaned forward, “What other things?” she pressed. _Don’t act weird._

I shrugged in an attempt to avoid looking suspicious as all hell before responding in a casual tone, “Being stronger, more dexterous and more charismatic, not aging, gaining a weaker version of my own power,” I demonstrated my control over shadows by covering myself from legs to chest before dismissing them and continuing, “And apparently you feel like you know me.” _Please don’t catch on, please don’t catch on, please don’t catch on…_

A deafening silence filled the space around us for a few very long seconds. Finally, Raessa narrowed her eyes and replied, “And why in Kurinth’s name would you give me this?”

I ran a hand through my hair before replying, “Waging a one-woman war on the Warhounds is hard – I need allies. You just so happened to be trashing the warehouse I myself had wanted to hit.” I took a breath and went on, “And it’s not like the situation is permanent, you have to drink my blood at least once a month for it to work properly.”

The asari closed her eyes, inhaled and exhaled before looking square in my eyes and nodding. _Seems like I won’t have to talk to her about this whole ‘enslaved to my will’ aspect of the arrangement after all._

Taking that as a sign of acceptance, I off-handedly asked, “Why were you in that warehouse anyway?”

Raessa’s face adopted a somber look as she looked away. Without meeting my eyes, she said in a solemn tone, “The Warhounds have taken something precious from me.” Suddenly, she looked me right in the eyes and the intensity of her gaze sent shivers down my spine, “Jaroth owes be a debt – one that can only be paid in blood. And I plan to collect it.” _Hmm. Reminds me of someone I know._

Crossing my legs, I asked, “What did he do?”

The asari clenched her hands into fists, got up and began anxiously pacing around, “Goddess damn it, Desdemona, you’re not the only one who has to kill to live!” _Now that is something profoundly interesting. That can become both a boon and a bane._ She brought her hands up to her head crest and stroked it several times.

She then stopped in the middle of the room and turned to face me, “I have a rare genetic disorder. I can influence other people’s thoughts through eye contact – _well that sounds familiar_ – and whenever I meld with somebody, they die and I become stronger.” _A succubus? They didn’t mention any of this in the codex._

Coming back to the sofa, she continued, “Needless to say, the Republics aren’t all that happy with the presence of people with such an ability – they see it fit to throw us on a penal colony world and let us work ourselves to death in a labor camp.” _Harsh as punishments go, especially for something one is not responsible for._

At this point, Raessa sat down on the sofa and went on in a melancholic tone, “They classified me as a type 3 Ardat-Yakshi.” She balled her fists up again, “The moment the diagnosis came, I knew I had to leave. And so I killed the doctors, grabbed my sister and ran.” She added in a small voice, “I was only thirty-eight at the time...”

I felt my eyes widen a bit at that before I could school my features into a neutral mask. I hesitated for a second before asking, “How old are you now?”

She looked at me for a moment before looking away and replying, “Fifty-five.” _Christ, she’s just a teenager by human standards! Having to kill at such a young age… Reminds me of someone I know._

I carefully pressed on, “And your sister?”

At that, Raessa’s face quickly passed through several emotions. At first, it was an expression immense pain. It then turned to blind fury as her biotics flared up before finally settling at controlled anger. Slowly, the light-blue glow winked out from around her. The asari massaged her head crest once again – it seemed to have a calming effect, – swallowed and in a restrained voice said, “Next topic.” _Right-o, gotcha._

I shook my head at her reaction and replied, “Okay, fine. I won’t push. We’ve plenty to discuss anyway…”

 _**12/04/2181** _  
_**09:11** _  
_**Desdemona’s apartment, Kenzo district, Omega, Sahrabarik system, Omega nebula** _

As I relaxed on the sofa, I turned my head to look at the sleeping form of Raessa in my bed. We’d talked about a lot of things over the course of the night and had come to an agreement of sorts. _If this works out, we just might be able to wipe the Warhounds out._

We decided that my apartment is in a better position than hers to stage our attacks – she lives in Kenzo, but well behind the Cobras’ territory – so both of us would be staying at my place. Raessa would be the ’public face’ because unlike me, she could actually be seen on cameras. She would be out there advancing our goals during daytime, and I would come out at night.

She also promised to teach me basic hacking and bypassing techniques with the omni-tool. Still, we concluded that the basic level of understanding she has was simply not enough – we needed a dedicated tech expert on our side.

After a bit of a debate, we agreed on keeping the shuttle until we had something better. That brought up the question of money – or lack thereof. With little-to-no resources, we would be forced to work without any decent armor and equipment. Still, my plan of making money did revolve around stealing everything from the gangs, and after a small back and forth Raessa agreed that it was the best option.

I stifled a yawn – _damn, it’s getting late_ – before going to brush my teeth. With that done, I entered the bedroom and lightly shook the sleeping asari, “Hey. Rise and shine, partner-dearest.” There was no response other than the steady rising and falling of her chest. _Oh, for goodness’ sake._

I shook her harder, “Raessa!” I couldn’t help but giggle as she groggily muttered something in her sleep before lazily slapping my hands away and turning around, gently snoring. _Well, I guess having a close brush with death and retelling a traumatic experience in the same night can be exhausting._

I shook my head, undressed and slipped into the bed next to her. _She’s been through a lot this night, she deserves a bit of a rest._ My consciousness quickly began slipping away, but not before a thought ran through my head: _dammit, and I wanted someone to watch over my body and help me with makeup…_ With that, I entered a torpid state for the rest of the day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As usual, feel free to tell me what you think in the comments below.


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